Old Federal Road

The earliest vehicular and postal route from northwest Georgia was the Federal Road, which led from the southeast Cherokee boundary, in the direction of Athens, Georgia to Tennessee; a Y-shaped thoroughfare, it forked at Ramhurst toward Knoxville and Nashville. The western prong passed Spring Place, running northwestward by Ringgold and Rossville. Rights of the white people to use this way were formally granted by the Cherokees in the 1805 Treaty of Tellico. Prior to that time the trace had served as a trading path to Augusta. James Vann of Spring Place was instrumental in opening the Federal Road. He established the ferry where the highway crossed the Chattahoochee in Forsyth County. The second post office in northwest Georgia was opened on this route at Spring Place on November 15, 1819 with John Gambold as postmaster.